Ant-eating
flies may rescue South
November 16, 2000- WASHINGTON (AP) - A
tiny Brazilian fly whose larvae literally eat the heads
off of fire ants will be unleashed across the South
under a government program to control the vicious ants
that are a spreading menace to homeowners, farmers and
wildlife. The Agriculture Department, which claims the
gnat-like phorid fly is of no danger to anybody or
anything other than fire ants, announced plans Wednesday
to release hundreds of thousands of them in the South
and possibly in California, where the ants have now
spread. Fire ants can make life miserable for homeowners
and gardeners and cause billions of dollars in damage
every year to air conditioners, electrical equipment and
farms, experts say. The ants can blind and even kill
livestock and wildlife, and the sting is occasionally
fatal to humans. The ants, which are native to South
America, have no natural enemies in the United States.
Chemical treatments are only effective temporarily. The
Agriculture Department started studying the flies in
1993 to see if they could harm anything other than fire
ants. Nothing other than the fire ants would attract
them, including animal dung or human waste, so the
government is confident they will be completely safe for
the environment, Brenner said.
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